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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, February 21, 2000
Netters get two Monahans consolation titles
PECOS, Feb. 21, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagles tennis team came up with two consolation
title victories over the weekend, in their first tournament of the Spring
2000 season, Friday and Saturday in Monahans.
Teresa Minjarez and Rebecca Wein won consolation at No. 1 girl's doubles,
and the No. 2 doubles team of Rachel Pharoah and Brenda Fuentes did the
same in their bracket.
The No. 3 team of Kristina Dominguez and Tiffany Jarrett finished fourth,
coach Bernadette Ornelas said, as did No. 7 singles player Laura Hinojos
and the boys' No. 2 doubles team of Jay Dannelley and Michael Tremble.
Along with the Eagles and Loboes, teams from Crane, Andrews, Fort Stockton,
Frenship, Amarillo Palo Duro and Pecos' district rival, Fabens, were entered
in the tournament.
"As far as the tournament was concerned the boys represented themselves
very well, and on the girls side we're adjusting to new doubles partners,"
Ornelas said. "Right now t he girls are working hard on their doubles strategy."
Minjarez and Wein defeated Michelle McLallon and Nicole McFadden of
Frenship in the consolation finals, 9-7, while Pharoah and Fuentes won
by an 8-5 score over Annie Casas and Stefanie Ramirez of Fort Stockton.
They did lose their opener to Fabens Daisy Gonzalez and Cindy Cordero,
4-6, 6-0, 6-1, but Minjarez and Wein downed the Wildcats' Alyse Ramos and
Annie Gutierrez, 9-7, in the consolation semifinals.
Hinojos won her opening match from Fabens Anna Garcia before losing
in the tournament semifinals to Andrews' Melissa Pollard, and then to Fort
Stockton's Irene Boon for third place.
Ornelas said her No. 1 doubles team on the boys side had to forfeit
due to illness, while Dannelley and Tremble won by forfeit at No 2 doubles
before losing to teams from Andrews and Frenship in the semifinal and third
place matches.
In singles play, Tremble lost to Monahans' Nick Ledingham in the consolation
finals at No. 4 singles, and Allen Almunia did the same at No. 7 singles,
falling to Dung Pham of Amarillo Palo Duro in the consolation finals.
On the girls' side in singles, Minjarez, Jarrett and Dominguez all lost
their opening matches, then won in the consolation semis before falling
in the finals, while Amanda Fleming and Omar Mendoza lost their two matches
in the only mixed doubles bracket of the tournament.
The Eagles next tournament will be this coming weekend in El Paso, where
they'll compete against 15 teams at the Americas High School Tournament.
Jarrett rallies late for third Daytona victory
By DICK BRINSTER
AP Motorsports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 21, 2000 - Dale Jarrett shook hands with
The King, and that meant almost as much as winning the Daytona 500 for
the third time.
"That sent chills up and down my spine," Jarrett said of his meeting
with Richard Petty after the race.
The defending Winston Cup champion wouldn't have gotten the chance if
not for his winning pass of surprise contender Johnny Benson with just
four laps to go in NASCAR's premier race.
But making the right move at the right time is what Jarrett does best.
His victories are almost always big.
Of 23 in his career, seven have been majors. That's the way it is with
racing royalty, something The King certainly realized.
"Petty made his way across pit road and shook my hand," said Jarrett,
whose series championship last year was the third for his family.
His father, Ned, won two titles when he raced against Petty 40 years
ago.
The younger Jarrett knows plenty about winning, too, much more than
Benson, who has yet to drive to Victory Lane. He almost got there Sunday,
and Jarrett almost wished he had.
"I wouldn't have felt bad to lose to Johnny Benson," Jarrett said. "He's
a good guy and they need a break."
But it was Jarrett who got one when a caution flag slowed the field
on the 194th of 200 laps at Daytona International Speedway. The green waved
for the final time three laps later, and Jarrett did what most in the crowd
of 190,000 figured he would, despite an accident that damaged his car at
the final practice Saturday.
Powered by a Robert Yates Racing engine, he drove his repaired Ford
to the low side of the high-banked second turn, blew by Benson and raced
to a NASCAR record prize of $2.3 million from a $9.4 million purse.
Jarrett's timing was perfect. Two laps later, Jimmy Spencer hit the
wall, and the race ended under caution.
"It was a good thing I was able to take the lead when I did," Jarrett
said. "I wasn't going to have much of chance."
Benson had virtually none when Jarrett led the five-Ford assault on
a lone Pontiac.
"I knew the Fords were going to gang up on us at the end," said Benson,
who faded to 12th after Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace
and Mark Martin went by him. "I just wish it would have stayed green, but
you can't do anything about the yellow."
Benson insisted the first of the final two caution flags cost him the
race.
"If the green flag stays out, I would have been OK and I would have
won this," said Benson, who hasn't done much in Winston Cup since winning
the rookie of the year award in 1996.
Jarrett was dominant during the week leading up to the 500, easily winning
the pole position in time trials and overpowering the field in a 25-lap
race for last year's top qualifiers.
Even when he finished second to Bill Elliott's Ford in a 125-mile qualifying
race, few doubted Jarrett was still the favorite over 500 miles. He lived
up to his billing.
"I would never have dreamed when I came into this sport that I could
win this race three times," Jarrett said in Victory Lane, where he was
greeted by a burst of confetti and hugs from his crew.
Jarrett matched Bobby Allison's total victories in The Great American
Race. Only Cale Yarborough (4) and Petty (7) have more.
Jarrett was always at or near the front in a race that lacked any drama
until the last 50 laps. The drama was Saturday.
Jeff Gordon, who won Daytona from the pole last year, banged into the
rear of Jarrett's Taurus as the two braked to avoid trouble in front of
them. The bump sent Jarrett's car skidding onto the apron, where Elliott
banged off the left front.
Todd Parrott, Jarrett's crew chief, considered going to a backup car,
which would have forced Jarrett to start last in the 43-car field.
Instead, the team worked late into the night - until NASCAR closed the
garage area - flew in help from its shop in Charlotte, N.C., and got back
to work repairing the car when the garage opened at about 5 a.m.
"If Todd Parrott puts it out there, I have confidence in it," said Jarrett,
who led a race-high 89 laps.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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